Monday, January 26, 2009

Every Rads anniversary run has its own contours, but few have been as satisfying as last weekend's two night stand at Tipitina's in celebration of the band's 31st year together. It's simply amazing that a rock band can still sound this fresh and inspired 31 years into its existence. The key to that sense of constant discovery is that the band pulls material from more sources than any other rock group in history, ranging across the entire history of New Orleans music from Jelly Roll Morton on out, referencing a variety of blues, country and classic rock source material from their own experience, and dipping into mastermind Ed Volker's catalog of thousands of original songs, some of which he makes up on the spot. In fact Volker came up with a new one two songs into this run, "The Party Ain't Over Till I Say So." You can tell when Ed springs something like this on the band by the look of astonished joy on their faces as they play along on something they've never heard before themselves. "What am I doing here after all these crazy years?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air. These shows had an internal pace that made the two nights seem like one long four-set show with a 20 hour break between sets three and four. The instrumental "Monkey Meet" started things out deliberately on Friday night. For the most part Volker and guitarist Dave Malone take turns singing lead over the course of a set. Malone was in top form on the Rads classics "Honey From the Bee" and "Like Dreamers Do" a nifty version of "Last Getaway" and an inspired interpretation of Stevie Wonder's "He's Mistra Know It All." One of the highlights of the set was Volker's spooky reading of his Nostradamus-like evocation of the hard times we now are living in, "New Dark Ages." He wrote it 20 years ago but it sounds like it was written yesterday. Dave kicked off set two with a mournful "Morning Dew," then Ed played a little "Soul Limbo" riff going into the extended jamming on the suite-like "Number 2 Pencil." With Michael Skinkus on congas the rhythms were flying high and bassist Reggie Scanlan was right up there in mix alongside Malone and the master of pyrotechnics, guitarist Camile Baudoin. Drummer Frank Bua was kicking it all down the road in one of those moments when he was nothing less than the Charlie Watts of New Orleans drumming, slamming and syncopated. "Give the drummer some" shouts Volker during the Bo Diddley vamp "Hey Gyp" and Bua/Skinkus trip off into the drum zone, revving the crowd to ecstasy. Everybody in the place is shouting "Hey" in the right spots during "Soul On Fire," Dave delivers a killer "Death of the Blues," Ed has an "Ace In the Hole" and then, as he builds a segue instrumental passage, sings in a quavering falsetto: "They call me Mr. Pitiful/That's my name/They call me Mr. Pitiful/It's My Only Claim to Fame." As Dave steps up to the microphone to sing Traffic's "Feelin' Allright" you can sense that the whole crowd is primed to shout out the answer line "Not feeling too good myself." The Radiators version of this song, with its corruscating rhythmic flow and density, turns it into a New Orleans anthem. The New Orleans rhythms and arrangement idiosyncrasies allow the Radiators to turn what would be cover songs in the hands of lesser bands into reimaginings. No better example exists than the encore of the Jimi Hendrix classic "If 6 Was 9," played with a stabbing, staccato rhythm that adds a whole new meaning to the line "I've-got-my-own-life-to-live" when Volker spits it out, no suave talking hipster but hurling it on the ground like a warning. But of course Ed is always the poet and it falls upon him to ruminate "If sex turned out to be divine..." a thought that seemed to lure him into "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," done as a hard blues rather than an R&B tune. When he gets to the repeat line Volker attacks, shouting "Heard it!" against the slamming backbeat eight times in a row. The band flies out of this moment into a frenzied coda, with Malone slamming power "Grapevine" chords a la Neil Young. How do you follow this with an encore? By playing The Who's "Magic Bus" with reference to the close harmonies and rhythm patterns of the spinning top of a single version, not the Live At Leeds version.

Friday night was that good, but Saturday's show started where Friday left off. Dave started off on an extremely high level with "Where Was You At?" and Ed followed with an otherworldly "Total Evaporation." Dave brought out his daughter Darcy to sing along on "Shine On," and at the end father and daughter did a Beatles headshake with each other as they sang into the same microphone. From there on things just rocketed out of control. Darcy stuck around for the transformational moment of "Ooh La La" then Volker unleashed the hounds for "Hot Dog," a song he thought was a cute little throwaway when he wrote it but has become a rabid fan favorite. On both nights, fans of the tune posted signs on the balcony begging for it, and the simple, hard rocking tune brought the night to a fever pitch. The Radiators never waste moments like this and roared into "Burning Down the House," a "cover" that might well make David Byrne wish he had become a travel agent. With Mark Pardis of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes on electric cello this version soared into the stratosphere as the cello and two guitars built an intricate interlace. "We've never had cello on this one before" notes Dave as the band launches into a "Suck the Head"/"Crawfish Head" jam, followed by a scorching "Barn Burner." Tips was bathed in an electric bath of otherwordly energy as Volker tuned into his hotline to the gods and started speaking in tongues during the intro to Fred Neil's "Green Rocky Road," talking about "a man who was always trying to go down to New Orleans/To get himself lost and found." Too bad Neil isn't around to hear hear Volker go downtown with his Hooker ref "Who Do You Love," taking it to the limit with "serve you right to suffer." During "Hot Dog" I casually wondered how they were going to top this off, with "Rollercoaster?" Well, when they ended to set with this high intensity rocker I had my answer. When I'm having this much fun at a Radiators show things start to blend into a glowing blur of happiness, and I have to say I danced my way through the final set, checking out former bandmember Glen "Kul" Sears on "Out in the woods," grooving to "Low Rider," and just losing it as it all reeled by -- "City of Refuge," "Dreaming Out Loud," all the way through "Train Kept a Rolling." I made it down to the front of the stage for the encore of "Tipitina"> "Junker's Blues"> "Tipitina," then "Paint It Black." It was so good you knew they were coming back for a second encore, a pounding "Gimme Some Loving" that segued into the ultimate sing-along, "Gloria." Can't wait for Mom's Ball.

Friday, January 23, 2009

I have a confession to make. I am taking a nap this afternoon, because I want to be in top shape for what is likely to be a memorable show at Tipitina's in New Orleans tonight. The Radiators will play their anniversary shows there tonight and tomorrow, celebrating 31 years together as New Orleans' greatest rock band. These shows are always special, ranking with the Mom's Balls on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Look out!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Guitarist Warren Haynes has a full schedule this year. On Tuesday he'll join the Dead at the Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball, which will be attended by President Barack Obama. The Dead will launch an extensive arena tour this spring - their first tour in five years. For full details and tour itinerary, visit http://www.dead.net/.

As lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and musical director, Haynes played a major role in the revival and ongoing renaissance of the Allman Brothers Band. The Allman Brothers Band, featuring Haynes, will host a month-long residency at New York City's newly renovated Beacon Theatre this March, followed by the extensive national 40th Anniversary Tour this summer and fall.

Immediately following his inauguration performances, Haynes will record the first new studio album in three years by his own band Gov't Mule. This will be the first record to feature the quartet's new bassist Jorgen Carlsson. Gov't Mule will perform the following dates this winter, and will embark on a world tour in support of its new album (due mid-June) which will encompass the US, Europe, and Canada between June and August of 2008.

Bassist David S. Ware is one of our greatest natural resources. The co-founder of the Vision festival has made a number of the most essential recordings over the last decade and remains an important force in live music, but he faces a severe health emergency.

This is an urgent notice on David S. Ware’s health. David needs to find a kidney donor.

David S. Ware was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1999 and he began dialysis that fall. He had an intensive three week hemodialysis regime toward beginning peritoneal (self-administered) dialysis, which would allow him to travel. David has been on this self-administered dialysis regime multiple times every day and night since October 1999. While certainly difficult, he has been able to travel, and perform his music undiminished, since then.

However, late this past December, David called to say that after 9 years this treatment was no longer working as it had been, and that a kidney transplant is the only viable option for his survival.

Since then a number of friends and family members have offered to give him one of their kidneys. Unfortunately, they have all been disqualified due to health reasons or not having David's blood type, O.

Some basic/initial requirements for viable donors are that they must be under 60 years of age, do not have diabetes or high blood pressure, are in general good health, and have blood type O (either O+ or O- is fine).

The hospital where a transplant would take place is the very highly regarded Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJhttp://www.rwjuh.edu/

Willing and able potential donors should please get in touch with us as soon as possible:

About Me

John Swenson has been writing about popular music since 1967. He edited the award-winning website jazze.com for Knit Media and has worked as an editor at Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone, Circus, Rock World, OffBeat magazine and been published in virtually every popular music magazine of note over that time. He was a syndicated music columnist for more than 20 years at United Press International and Reuters. Swenson has written 14 published books including biographies of Bill Haley, The Who, Stevie Wonder and The Eagles and co-edited the original Rolling Stone Record Guide with Dave Marsh. He is also the editor of The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide.
In another role Swenson is a veteran sports writer who covered the New York Rangers for 30 years, writing pieces for outlets from Rolling Stone to the Associated Press. Swenson is also a veteran horseracing columnist and handicapper who covered the New York racing scene as a columnist for the New York Post and the New Orleans Fair Grounds meet for The Daily Racing Form. His profile on jockey Steve Cauthen: Rise To Stardom, Fall From Grace in Spur Magazine was nominated for an Eclipse Award.